Kenya's REA to soon begin construction of 55-MW solar park - report

Solar panels. Featured Image: pornvit_v/Shutterstock.com

April 24 (Renewables Now) - The Rural Electrification Authority (REA) expects to approve this week the designs for a 55-MW solar project in northern Kenya so that construction work could start soon, an official told Kenya News Agency.

REA’s chairman Simon Gicharu said, as quoted by the news agency, that all the bottlenecks to the project are now over. According to him, the scheme will be realised in one year. The total cost is estimated at KES 12.8 billion (USD 124m/EUR 114m).

Kenya Power agreed in late September to buy the output of the proposed facility over a period of 25 years.

Speaking about rural electrification in Kenya, Gicharu also said that the bulk of the KES 7 billion allocated for the 2018-2018 fiscal year will be spent on scaling-up the supply of renewable energy in rural areas.